Fighting Fire with Fire
by lforlinstead
Summary: "Phone number? I'll kill her." When Erin and Jay run into THAT lawyer at the bar, will Erin stick to her word? Linstead one-shot.


Erin and Jay held hands as they walked towards Molly's on the cold Friday evening. It had become a usual thing to do, a place to hang with the other guys from work when shift had finished. And nobody yet suspected they were back together, a busy bar would allow them to mix with the others. He felt her shiver slightly as they turned a corner.

"Are you cold? Here," He broke their hands apart to slide off his jacket and wrap it around her shoulders. He chuckled a bit as he did so, knowing that when she left the house in a rather thin blazer she would end up being cold. But he didn't mind, he'd rather she be warm than himself. Erin smiled at his sentiment, pulling the garment further onto her body so it was secure. When Jay was done, he moved immediately to again intertwine their fingers, sliding his own through the gaps Erin's created. He looked down and smiled. "This is…nice."

Erin looked down too and grinned. "It is, isn't it?" And she meant it, her smile spreading high across her cheeks. It just felt right to be holding his hand again, and she especially liked the scent of his jacket that was draped over her: she'd missed his _smell._ And the way he leaned against her as they walked together, she'd just missed their closeness. It felt good that it was back.

When they reached the door to the bar, their contact immediately dropped, both of them having made a mutual decision to keep their rekindled relationship on the down low a bit longer. It didn't stop Jay being ever the gentleman though, holding the door open for her and then following Erin inside. She dropped the jacket from her body, handing it back to him as they made their way to the bar.

"Beer?" Jay asked her, before he acknowledged the rest of the people around them. Erin nodded and went to find them a table, deciding on a secluded booth at the back. She didn't want to be anti-social, but she wanted to spend time with Jay. Besides, the rest of the team would follow them over anyway, so they wouldn't be left alone for long. Sure enough, Jay came back from the bar with Adam and Kevin behind him. He pulled a face at her before he reached the table, making it clear he felt the same about their privacy. But Erin didn't mind, the others were like her family at the end of the day.

Jay sat down opposite her, sliding her bottle of beer across the table. It didn't take a minute for their conversation to begin.

"Linds, we were taking bets at the bar." Ruzek turned around and pointed towards a dark haired woman with her back to them. "Kevin reckons he'll be leaving with that chick tonight, but I disagree. You think he has a shot?"

"I think neither of you have a shot if you keep talking about her that," Erin took a swig of her beer, then moved to get up. "I'm going to the ladies, this conversation topic better be over by the time I get back."

"Aw come on Linds, you know I'm jokin." Adam turned back around to look at the girl again, then slapped his hand across Jay's shoulder. "Dark hair, looks like your type Jay-"

Jay cleared his throat, attempting to cut him off before he said anything in front of Erin. "Drop it Ruzek, before I hurt you. I'm not interested." He stole a glance at Erin as she sneaked past to go to the bathroom, and she dropped her head so her work friends wouldn't see her blush.

She was glad to be out of the conversation for a minute, praying they would have moved on by the time she got back to the table. A frown spread across her brow when she returned to find that not only had the conversation not changed, but the woman they were talking about was now at the table, hovering around where the guys were standing.

From the angle she was walking back, the woman currently had her back to Erin, the only thing she could see was the long brown hair travelling down her back. She was dressed in a pants suit and looked professional, Erin disliked her already. She had her hip clocked to one side, her left hand resting on it and the other holding a drink. It was only when Erin was inches from the table that she realized who it was.

The previous time she'd seen Dana Goldsmith, she'd hoped it would be the last. She'd prayed she would never have to see her again, especially if Jay gave her the cold shoulder and didn't make any use of the cell number she gave him. Which he hadn't, and Erin reminisced at the memory of him tearing it to shreds in front of her.

Now, as she came back to the table, the lawyer was deep in conversation with the guys, paying particular attention to Jay. Erin narrowed her eyes as she watched her, carefully snaking around her to sit back in her seat.

Jay saw the look on her face, wanting to do nothing more than reach over and grab her, hold her hand or something. The last time they'd both seen Dana, he'd proven he wanted nothing to do with her. By the look on his girlfriend's face, it was obvious she felt threatened. He knew she didn't need to be, but he couldn't exactly said anything.

Ruzek was the first to break from the conversation and turned to Erin.

"Lindsay, you remember Dana don't you? She's back in Chicago for another case-"

Erin forced a smile, not being able to tell from the look on Dana's face whether she remembered her or not. Dana's head was cocked to the side, her eyes narrow slits. She clearly thought Erin had interrupted her _fun._

Dana didn't say anything, but waved a hand in front of Erin's face. Then, she focused her attention back on Jay. She moved to the side a little, stepping closer to Jay's stance. She raised her hand, twirling a strand of her hair. She seemed to be ignoring the fact that both Adam and Kevin had their eyes on her, she wasn't looking in their direction.

"So Jay," Erin noticed how much emphasis she put on his name, the 'y' sound rolling off of her tongue. Dana put down her drink and moved her hand closer to Jays, resting it on the table. "I haven't heard from you since I was last here, should I assume you _lost_ my number?" The lawyer let out a childish giggle, and Erin grimaced again. She'd been in the presence of her for all of two minutes, and already she wanted to stick by her word. _I'll kill her._

Jay took another large gulp of her beer before he even responded to her, slamming it back on the table with a thud. "Must have misplaced it, yeah" He didn't really know what to say, half of him just wanted to be brutally honest and tell her the number was where it belonged: in the trash.

"No worries, I can write it down again." She didn't seem to be picking up on his bluntness, and tried to continue the conversation. "I'm probably going to be around for a while, we should get to know each other."

The way she was speaking to him made Jay want to gag. If he was feeling this way, he had no idea how Erin must be feeling. He turned to look at her, she was cradling her bottle of beer like her life depended on it. Her eyes were in a daze, she was staring into space. Probably trying to drown out the conversation. Which is what _he_ wanted to do. He zoned out thinking about what to say, and it was obviously too long of a wait for Dana because she started to speak again.

"So what do you say, Jay?" she placed a hand on his shoulder, staring at him. "Are you free this week?"

Jay sank further into the booth, trying to back away from her grip. She was already tipsy though, her grip only tightening as he tried to fend her off. "I.. uh… Dana don't take this the wrong way-"

Before he had finished the sentence Erin disappeared from the table, making her way towards the bar. He sighed, knowing he was going to have to deal with her reaction. Things had been going so well, _too_ well, and a face from his past was _all_ that he had needed to see.

Dana was laughing again now, her eyes fixated directly on his face. "You don't know what you're talking about Jay, trust me-" She was leaning over so much into his personal space that he was forced to inhale her scent, a perfume so sweet it made him want to vomit. She was trying so hard to impress him and each additional thing she did, made him want to get out of there even more.

Jay gritted his teeth, sick of her shit. He needed to go and find Erin and make sure she was okay. It couldn't have been a pleasant thing for her to witness, especially with the fact they were keeping their relationship secret. He'd told Erin that Dana meant nothing to him once, and he knew he could do it again. Jay scooted out from underneath Dana's arms and strode in the direction of the bar. He could feel the lawyer's eyes burning into his skull as he walked away.

He found Erin at the opposite end of the bar, nursing what looked like a double shot. He didn't blame her at all, knowing that if it had been the other way around he would have been just as jealous as she was. He snuck up behind her without her realizing, his hand going to the small of her back.

"Hey, there you are. Are you okay?" It was a stupid question to ask, but he asked her anyway. He stepped round to the side of the stool she was sitting on, wanting to look into her eyes.

Erin started off by nodding her head slightly, before changing direction to shake it instead. She bit her bottom lip as her head shook from side to side.

"I couldn't listen to her, not when she was talking to you like that. I didn't think I'd have to see her again-" She took a drink from her glass, whatever it was clearly burning the back of her throat. "And I obviously couldn't say anything, which is why I had to leave." Her hands were gripping onto her drink so hard, Jay was surprised it hadn't smashed into a million pieces.

He raised a hand to her cheek, tenderly turning her head to face him. Her skin was burning beneath his own, it was obvious how much the run-in with Dana had got to her. And she never usually let things like this show, so it hurt Jay to see. And he hated that they were in public, because he could do little to comfort her.

"Er, listen to me. I told you before, I _showed_ you before that she means nothing to me. I don't know her and I have absolutely no intention of getting to know her-"

"It didn't look like it over there, Jay, she was all over you! And that hurts. It _hurts_ me." There were tears threatening in the corners of her eyes, but she wasn't going to let herself cry in Molly's. She tried to turn away from him but his hold was firm on her face.

He had so much to say, but knew he could say it in little more than a whisper. "Are you crazy? I thought you knew how I felt about you. I ripped up her number in front of you!"

Erin sniffed, taking a breath to stop her voice from breaking and gave him the softest smile. "I'm overreacting I know," She turned the rest of her body to face him so her knees collided with his thighs. "Just things have been going so well between us and it hurts to see," she moved to place a hand on his chest, then remembered where they were.

Jay allowed himself to relax a little, relieved that he was able to get through to her. He felt elated that she had moved to place a hand on his heart, somewhat distraught when he saw her realize her surroundings. "Hey, I'm sorry. She's a piece of work. But I can't tell you enough how much I wish Ruzek hadn't brought her to the table. This thing we have, this thing between us," He paused and motioned at the space between them "is _amazing._ And I wouldn't dream of doing anything to destroy that."

She would have laughed at his slushiness, if his comments didn't warm her heart the way that they did. Somehow it felt as though she had nothing to worry about, and this lawyer was simply a blip in their evening. "Can we go?"

Jay laughed, knowing what he had said had worked. He moved back slightly so she could stand from the bar stool. "Of course. Don't you want to finish your drink first? You have one left at the table.." He knew he was pushing it, but knew Erin had nothing to worry about if the lawyer was still there when they returned.

It was difficult for him to keep a foot away from her as they walked back to the booth, knowing that any amount of contact would cause a ton of questions from the others. When they got back, Dana was still there: this time, draped over Kevin who seemed to be fighting to stay awake. Clearly he didn't want to be in conversation with her either. Ruzek was nowhere to be seen, but Kevin's face lit up when they returned. It took a second for the lawyer to realize they were back.

"Jay, you're back" she struggled to peel herself away from Kevin, because she was drunk not because she wanted to be there. It was obvious he had been a second resort after Jay had rushed off. As soon as she set eyes on him again, she seemed to spring to life and tried to latch onto him. One of her hands went to touch his chest, and she cocked her head to the side again. She could barely keep her eyes open, as she tried again to speak to him. Her words came out in a slur, and none of the Detectives present had a clue what she was trying to say.

Though she didn't feel threatened as much, Erin was still pissed at the fact Dana was all over Jay. _Her_ Jay. She reached onto the table to grab a drink, the first one she could pick up. With little effort, she stepped back and aimed the open end of the glass in the direction of the lawyer, soaking Dana's face with the liquid.

"Didn't you hear? He's not _interested._ " It happened before she knew what came over her, her hand immediately going to cover her mouth as she realized what she had done. She had swilled a _lawyer_ , she was drunk and she had reason to but she had swilled a _lawyer._

Dana spluttered a bit before narrowing her eyes into slits and glaring at Erin. "You… _bitch_." The world rolled off her tongue in a rasp, tiny drops of spit spurting from her mouth. "You're going to regret-" She lunged forward but Kevin stopped her.

"Okay, I think it's time you left." He took her by the arm, half dragging her away from the booth. He was off duty and didn't have the authority to make her leave, but he could get her away from Erin.

Jay couldn't hide how much he wanted to laugh, the first of his chuckles escaping from his mouth as he watched his fellow Detective take the lawyer away from his feisty partner. He'd never really seen much of the jealous side of Erin, but jealous side of Erin was _hot._

"Okay that was amazing," he laughed. "That was _hot."_

Erin looked in complete shock at her actions, bewildered as to why she had done what she had. Of course Dana Goldsmith had deserved it, but it was unlike Erin to cause such a scene. She now was being stared at by the majority of Molly's, more than half of them bared the same expression as Erin: confused as to what had made the young Detective flip.

She felt her face flush with color and she stared at Jay. "I'm sorry oh God what…." She couldn't form a coherent sentence, instead just stringing together random words and trying to make sense of them.

Jay was still laughing, and she felt like slapping him for finding the situation so funny. "Don't" He watched as Erin took his beer from him, taking the biggest gulp. "Erin, I love you for apologizing but-"

He watched as the beer erupted through Erin's lips, the spray of liquid falling into the air then onto the floor. For a minute, she looked at him with her eyes wide and her mouth dropped low. "W-What did you just say to me?"

"I said don't apologize-"

"No no before that.. did you just say.. you _love_ me?!" She thought her ears had deceived her, feeling the need for him to repeat so she could believe it.

Jay stepped closer to her, no longer paying attention to their surroundings. He wanted to be done with the keeping-things-on-the-low thing because he didn't want to hide her. He let slip a nervous laugh. "Yeah… yeah I think I did. I think I _do._ "

It took Erin a second to get over the shock, but her face soon spread into a wide smile. "Yeah? I think I kinda love you too. Let's get out of here."

 **Please Review!**

 **Also, if anybody has any one-shot ideas, or maybe another idea for a story then let me know! Thanks!**


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